Could absorb light from all directions, improving solar cells and photosensors

October 2, 2015

Materials scientists from the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA have discovered a way to make organic (carbon-based) semiconductors more powerful and efficient by creating “light antennas.” The thin, pole-like devices could absorb light from all directions, an improvement over today’s wide, flat panels that can only absorb light from one surface.

The breakthrough was in creating an improved structure for one type of organic semiconductor: a building… read more

October 2, 2015

IBM Research has announced a “major engineering breakthrough” that could lead to carbon nanotubes replacing silicon transistors in future computing technologies.

As transistors shrink in size, electrical resistance increases within the contacts, which impedes performance. So IBM researchers invented a metallurgical process similar to microscopic welding that chemically binds the contact’s metal (molybdenum) atoms to the carbon atoms at the ends of nanotubes.

Scientists estimate there are more than a million viral species, but less than 4,900 viruses have been identified and sequenced

October 1, 2015

Viruses are actually living entities that share a long evolutionary history with cells, researchers report in a study that traces viral evolution back to a time when neither viruses nor cells existed in the forms recognized today.

October 1, 2015

A new approach to increasing solar-cell panel efficiency using an “invisibility cloak” has been developed by scientists at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.

Up to one tenth of the surface area of solar cells is typically covered by “contact fingers” that extract current generated by solar cells. The fingers block some of the light from the active area of the solar cell, decreasing cell efficiency. By guiding… read more

September 30, 2015

Researchers at the University of Twente in The Netherlands have designed and demonstrated working electronic logic circuits produced using methods that resemble Darwinian evolution and neural networks like the human brain.

In a radical “designless” approach, the researchers used a 200-nanometer-wide cluster of 20-nanometer gold nanoparticles. They applied a series of voltages to eight electrodes and determined the resulting set of 16 different two-input Boolean logic gates.… read more

September 29, 2015

A method for merging bacteria in human cells as “living implants” has been developed by University of Twente researchers. The implants could include stents equipped with bacteria on which endothelial cells (cells that form the lining of blood vessels) can grow, or bacteria that can release medicines in specific parts of the body.

September 29, 2015

A new procedure that can mimic the complex fine structure of biological composite materials, such as teeth or seashells, has been developed by ETH Zurich researchers. It could allow for creating synthetic materials that are as hard and tough as their natural counterparts.

The secret of these hard natural biomaterials is in their unique fine structure: they are composed of different layers in which numerous micro-platelets are… read more

As an array of billions of carbon nanotubes, they could efficiently capture solar energy

September 28, 2015

Using nanometer-scale components, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have demonstrated the first optical rectenna, a device that combines the functions of an antenna and a rectifier diode to convert light directly into DC current.

Based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and tiny rectifiers fabricated onto them, the optical rectennas could provide a new technology for energy harvesters, including photodetectors that would operate without the need for… read more

September 28, 2015

Researchers detected darkish signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes in several locations that appear to ebb and flow over time, based on spectrometer data. The signatures darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons.

September 25, 2015

Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego have designed enzyme-functionalized micromotors the size of red blood cells that rapidly zoom around in water, remove carbon dioxide, and convert it into a usable solid form.

The proof-of-concept study represents a promising route to mitigate the buildup of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas in the environment, said the researchers.

September 25, 2015

KurzweilAI has covered a wide variety of research projects that explore how DNA molecules can be assembled into complex nanostructures for molecular-scale diagnostics, smart drug-delivery, and other uses. For example, tailored DNA structures could find targeted cancer cells and release their molecular payload (drugs or antibodies) selectively.

An article written by researchers from Aalto University just published in Trends in Biotechnology journal, comparing biological DNA-nanomachine developments… read more